In force
Saudi Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law
نظام مكافحة المخدرات والمؤثرات العقلية
The law covers definitions, criminalized acts, jurisdiction, legal assistance, controlled delivery, lawful import and trade, preparations containing narcotics, storage and dispensing, medical use, principal and supplementary penalties, treatment of addicts, and general provisions.
- Articles
- 74
- In force
- 74
- Amended
- 0
- Issued
- 8/7/1426 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم م/39 بتاريخ 8 / 7 / 1426 · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم 152 بتاريخ 12 / 6 / 1426
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law by topic
Narcotics Definitions and Schedules7 articlesDrug Offenses6 articlesJurisdiction, International Cooperation and Enforcement12 articlesLicensing Narcotics for Medical Purposes21 articlesDispensing Narcotic Medicines by Prescription8 articlesChemical Precursors2 articlesPenalty for Drug Smuggling1 articlePenalty for Drug Promotion and Possession2 articlesLaundering Drug Money1 articlePenalty for Drug Use4 articlesAddiction Treatment6 articlesConfiscation and Precautionary Attachment5 articlesTravel Ban, Deportation and License Cancellation5 articlesParticipation, Attempt and Mitigation8 articles
Articles of the Saudi Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law
- Article 1The article defines the key terms of the Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law, such as narcotic substances, psychotropic substances, importation, possession, holding, money laundering and confiscation.
- Article 2The article excludes emergency and first-aid medicines containing narcotic substances carried on ships and aircraft from importation, exportation and smuggling, on specific conditions.
- Article 3The article lists the acts that are offenses under the narcotics law, from smuggling, importation, possession and use to cultivation, making equipment, money laundering, participation and attempt.
- Article 4The article sets the cases in which the Saudi authorities may monitor and pursue those who commit narcotics offenses, inside the Kingdom and on ships and aircraft.
- Article 5The article allows the Saudi authorities to request the help of other States to seize drug smuggling on a ship on the high seas believed to be flying the flag of the Kingdom.
- Article 6The article makes the jurisdiction rules in Articles 4 and 17 of the 1988 United Nations Convention complementary to and clarifying of the jurisdiction rules in the Law.
- Article 7The article requires the authorities to pursue and punish a Saudi who commits an Article Three offense outside the Kingdom if it is punishable there and he was not pursued or punished for it.
- Article 8The article requires the authorities to pursue anyone who participates in, incites, assists in or attempts outside the Kingdom an Article Three offense if the intention is to facilitate its commission inside the Kingdom.
- Article 9The article requires the Saudi authorities to provide mutual legal assistance under the laws and agreements to which the Kingdom is a party, and to observe the principle of reciprocity.
- Article 10The article refers to the Implementing Regulations the body competent for legal assistance requests, their form and contents, accepting, refusing or postponing them, and the conditions for their use.
- Article 11The article allows the authorities to permit a shipment of narcotics to enter, pass through or leave under surveillance and in coordination with other States, in order to uncover and arrest smugglers.
- Article 12The article requires a one-year renewable license from the Ministry of Health to import or export narcotic or psychotropic substances for legitimate purposes.
- Article 13The article limits granting a license to import or export narcotic or psychotropic substances to five categories of pharmaceutical, treatment and research establishments.
- Article 14The article requires narcotic or psychotropic substances to be imported or exported in tightly sealed parcels with a detailed statement, with no other substance in the parcel.
- Article 15The article gives the Ministry of Health the power to review the quantity requested for import or export of narcotic substances and to approve, amend or reject it according to the Regulations.
- Article 16The article bars releasing narcotic or psychotropic substances arriving at customs except under a release license from the Ministry of Health, which is returned to it after the release.
- Article 17The article lets the Minister of Interior license government bodies, institutes and research centers to import and cultivate seeds of the plants in Table (4) for medical and research purposes, according to the Regulations.
- Article 18The article bars transporting narcotic or psychotropic substances inside the Kingdom except under the controls and conditions set by the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 19The article allows the Ministry of Interior, in coordination with customs, to permit narcotic or psychotropic substances to pass through the Kingdom to another State as set by the Regulations.
- Article 20The article lets the Ministry of Health license warehouses, factories and pharmacies to trade in narcotic substances for medical use if run by a Saudi pharmacist, and bars disposing of the establishment without the Ministry's approval.
- Article 21The article names who is responsible for the custody of narcotic and psychotropic substances: a Saudi pharmacist or pharmacy technician in warehouses, factories and treatment institutions, and the head of nursing in inpatient wards.
- Article 22The article bars appointing as custodian of narcotic substances anyone sentenced for the hadd of intoxication or for a narcotics offense or one involving dishonor or breach of trust, or dismissed by a disciplinary ruling for that.
- Article 23The article requires licensed pharmacy establishments and treatment and research institutions to register narcotic substances, monitor their dispensing and submit their registration data to the Ministry of Health according to the Regulations.
- Article 24The article restricts wholesale sale of narcotic substances to licensed establishments, bars treatment institutions from disposing of them without the Ministry of Health's approval, and requires delivery to the responsible person against an official receipt.
- Article 25The article makes licensing the establishment of factories or laboratories to produce, separate or build narcotic or psychotropic substances for scientific or commercial purposes subject to a decision of the Council of Ministers.
- Article 26The article makes the Ministry of Health the licensing authority for drug factories to make medical preparations containing narcotic substances, on condition that the conditions of a trade license are met and the license is held.
- Article 27The article bars licensed factories from disposing of narcotic substances they obtain or using them except in making the preparations specified in the license, while following the registration and control provisions.
- Article 28The article requires narcotic and psychotropic substances to be kept in licensed establishments in a special place within their original containers, in a tight manner that prevents tampering, with the conditions left to the Regulations.
- Article 29The article bars the pharmacist from dispensing medicines specified by the Ministry of Health that contain narcotic substances except on a prescription approved by a human or veterinary doctor or dentist licensed in the Kingdom.
- Article 30The article requires the prescription for narcotic medicines to be kept in the pharmacy after dispensing, with the date and register entry number recorded and the pharmacy stamp applied, and refers the retention period to the Regulations.
- Article 31The article requires the pharmacist or responsible pharmacy technician to record in special registers all medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic substances received by and dispensed from the pharmacy, according to the Regulations.
- Article 32The article requires every treatment institution to review the procedures for prescribing and dispensing narcotic and psychotropic medicines periodically, and to notify the Ministry of Health when it discovers any violation.
- Article 33The article licenses doctors to possess narcotic and psychotropic medicines and prescribe and dispense them from their private clinics, and specialized paramedics to possess some emergency medicines and administer them in emergency cases only, according to the Regulations.
- Article 34The article prohibits a doctor from writing a prescription for himself or a member of his family for medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic substances, whatever the quantity.
- Article 35The article bars an unlicensed person from possessing narcotic or psychotropic medicines except on a licensed doctor's prescription, prohibits giving them up, and requires returning unused medicines, or those of a deceased person, to their source.
- Article 36The article prohibits bringing in, exporting, making, trading in or possessing chemical precursors listed in Table (3), and similar acts, except under the Regulations' conditions.
- Article 37The article sets death as a ta'zir penalty for smuggling narcotics and similar acts, allows the court to reduce this to at least 15 years in prison, and increases the penalty to at least 25 years in specific cases.
- Article 38The article punishes with 5 to 15 years in prison, flogging and a fine anyone who possesses, sells or transports narcotics with intent to trade or promote, and increases the penalty in specific cases.
- Article 39The article punishes with 2 to 5 years in prison, flogging and a fine anyone who possesses, transports or receives narcotics without intent to trade, promote or use.
- Article 40The article punishes laundering of funds derived from narcotics offenses with 3 to 10 years in prison, flogging and a fine of at least SAR 50,000, and fines a benefiting establishment at least SAR 300,000.
- Article 41The article punishes with 6 months to 2 years in prison anyone who commits the acts of Articles 37 and 38 with intent to use personally, and increases the penalty for those charged with combating narcotics and anyone who uses them at work.
- Article 42The article bars prosecution of a user or addict who comes forward, or whose relative comes forward, asking for treatment and hands over what he holds, and allows the investigation to be shelved for a first offense under set conditions.
- Article 43The article allows an addict to be placed in a designated clinic instead of being punished for use, and leaves the cases, the ordering authority and the conditions for release to the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 44The article provides for a Committee for Considering Addiction Cases, formed by decision of the Minister of Interior in agreement with the Minister of Health, with its tasks, membership and procedures left to the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 45The article provides that a person placed in a clinic who commits any offense under this Law during treatment serves the prison sentence passed against him, after deducting the time he spent in the clinic.
- Article 46The article punishes a person who frequents a place prepared for drug use, while use is going on and knowing what happens there, with up to 3 months in prison or flogging, and exempts the relatives and residents of the person who prepared the place unless they took part.
- Article 47The article allows the Minister of Interior or his delegate to be content with deporting an addict who arrived on a Hajj or Umrah visa if the substances he holds do not exceed his personal need, with the Implementing Regulations setting their type and quantity.
- Article 48The article punishes a violation of Article 36 on chemical precursors with imprisonment of up to 6 months and a fine not exceeding SAR 3,000, or either of the two.
- Article 49The article imposes a fine of up to SAR 20,000 on licensees who violate the registration and prescription rules or who hold excess or insufficient quantities, and doubles it with closure of the premises for a repeat within 3 years.
- Article 50The article allows requiring an addict to attend a psychiatric clinic instead of the Article 41 penalty, requires a person released from a clinic to attend it, and requires a doctor's report to the addiction committee within 3 months.
- Article 51The article requires treating an addict in complete confidentiality and keeping his identity and any information about him secret, and punishes the persons concerned who disclose it with up to 3 months in prison or a fine of up to SAR 30,000.
- Article 52The article requires confiscating seized narcotics and anything unlawful to make, hold, sell or use, even if they do not belong to the accused, then destroying them or handing them to a government body under the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 53The article provides for confiscating, by court judgment, the tools and vehicles used in the offense, the funds and proceeds derived from it, and land planted with narcotic plants, without prejudice to the rights of third parties acting in good faith.
- Article 54The article allows the court to order a precautionary attachment on the funds of drug smugglers and traffickers, their spouses and minor children until the case is decided, where evidence or indications show the funds come from a drug offense.
- Article 55The article revokes the license to manage an establishment licensed to trade in narcotics if its licensed or responsible manager commits an Article 3 offense, and allows barring him from the profession and closing the premises.
- Article 56The article bars a Saudi convicted of a drug offense from traveling for a period equal to his prison term, of at least two years, after serving it, and deports a non-Saudi after his sentence, with no return except as Hajj and Umrah instructions allow.
- Article 57The article revokes the professional practice license of anyone convicted of an Article 3 offense, revokes a pharmacy's license to trade in narcotic medicines in set cases, and bars a private treatment institution from holding them.
- Article 58The article punishes anyone who takes part, by agreement, incitement or assistance, in the acts in paragraphs 1 to 5 of Article 3 with the penalty set for the offense itself.
- Article 59The article punishes attempting the Article 38(1) offenses with up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 50,000, attempting other offenses with up to half the maximum penalties, and allows the court to add flogging.
- Article 60The article allows the court, for valid reasons, to go below the minimum prison penalty in Articles 37 to 41 and to suspend the prison sentence imposed under Article 48, and explains the effects of the suspension.
- Article 61The article exempts from the penalties for Article 3 offenses any offender, other than an inciter, who takes the initiative to report the offense to the public authorities, on conditions that differ depending on whether the authorities already knew of it.
- Article 62The article provides that a person who committed several drug offenses before a final judgment is tried for the one with the heaviest penalty and receives only that penalty, and that the heavier penalty applies if this Law and another law both punish the act.
- Article 63The article provides that fine penalties in drug offenses are cumulative and that they do not displace or replace the penalty of confiscation.
- Article 64The article allows discretionary flogging penalties in drug offenses to be merged, being content with the heaviest, unless the judge sees otherwise, while stating that guilt is established in each offense separately.
- Article 65The article refers to Articles 27 and 28 of the Law of Criminal Procedure for the seizure of drug offenses, applying them to these offenses.
- Article 66The article gives the directors, officers and non-commissioned officers of narcotics control the status of criminal-investigation officers throughout the Kingdom for drug offenses, subject to Article 26 of the Law of Criminal Procedure.
- Article 67The article gives those competent in the Ministry of Health the status of criminal-investigation officers in implementing the Law, with the right to enter health and pharmaceutical facilities that use narcotics and examine their records.
- Article 68The article gives those competent in Customs, the Border Guard, the Saudi Central Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture the status of criminal-investigation officers within their own work and the Law, with coordination with the security and investigating bodies.
- Article 69The article tasks the Ministries of Interior, Justice and Health with preparing the Implementing Regulations within 180 days of the Law taking effect, to be issued by Council of Ministers decision and published in the Official Gazette.
- Article 70The article gives the Minister of Health the power to amend the tables attached to the Law by adding substances, deleting some, or changing their order or proportions, with the amendment published in the Official Gazette.
- Article 71The article provides that the tables attached to the Anti-Narcotics Law and their amendments are an integral part of it, with the force of the Law itself.
- Article 72The article provides that a judgment imposing the penalties in the Anti-Narcotics Law does not prejudice what is a lawful right of third parties.
- Article 73The article repeals the Law on Preventing Trafficking in Narcotics or Psychotropic Substances issued by Royal Order No. 3318 dated 9/4/1353 AH, and every provision that conflicts with the new Law.
- Article 74The article provides for publishing the Anti-Narcotics Law in the Official Gazette and for it to take effect 90 days after the date of its publication.
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